---
title: Custom Strategies
label: Custom Strategies
order: 60
desc: Create custom authentication strategies to handle everything auth in Payload.
keywords: authentication, config, configuration, overview, documentation, Content Management System, cms, headless, javascript, node, react, nextjs
---

<Banner type="warning">
  This is an advanced feature, so only attempt this if you are an experienced developer. Otherwise,
  just let Payload's built-in authentication handle user auth for you.
</Banner>

### Creating a strategy

At the core, a strategy is a way to authenticate a user making a request. As of `3.0` we moved away from [Passport](https://www.passportjs.org) in favor of pulling back the curtain and putting you in full control.

A strategy is made up of the following:

| Parameter                   | Description                                                               |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **`name`** \*               | The name of your strategy                                                 |
| **`authenticate`**&nbsp;\*  | A function that takes in the parameters below and returns a user or null. |

The `authenticate` function is passed the following arguments:

| Argument            | Description                                                                                       |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **`headers`** \*    | The headers on the incoming request. Useful for retrieving identifiable information on a request. |
| **`payload`** \*    | The Payload class. Useful for authenticating the identifiable information against Payload.        |
| **`isGraphQL`**     | Whether or not the request was made from a GraphQL endpoint. Default is `false`.                  |


### Example Strategy

At its core a strategy simply takes information from the incoming request and returns a user. This is exactly how Payload's built-in strategies function.

Your `authenticate` method should return an object containing a Payload user document and any optional headers that you'd like Payload to set for you when we return a response.

```ts
import type { CollectionConfig } from 'payload'

export const Users: CollectionConfig = {
  slug: 'users',
  auth: {
    disableLocalStrategy: true,
    // highlight-start
    strategies: [
      {
        name: 'custom-strategy',
        authenticate: ({ payload, headers }) => {
          const usersQuery = await payload.find({
            collection: 'users',
            where: {
              code: {
                equals: headers.get('code'),
              },
              secret: {
                equals: headers.get('secret'),
              },
            },
          })

          return {
            // Send the user back to authenticate,
            // or send null if no user should be authenticated
            user: usersQuery.docs[0] || null,

            // Optionally, you can return headers
            // that you'd like Payload to set here when
            // it returns the response
            responseHeaders: new Headers({
              'some-header': 'my header value'
            })
          }
        }
      }
    ]
    // highlight-end
  },
  fields: [
    {
      name: 'code',
      type: 'text',
      index: true,
      unique: true,
    },
    {
      name: 'secret',
      type: 'text',
    },
  ]
}
```
